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Hidden racial slur sparks recall of hundreds of yearbooks from Quebec high school

Jun 13, 2022 | 11:56 AM

MONTREAL — A suburban Montreal high school has recalled more than 900 yearbooks after a racial slur was found hidden in a student biography. 

The Lester B. Pearson School Board says that for one graduate’s entry, two students at Macdonald High School in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que., wrote a series of words separated by commas, with the first letters of the words forming the slur.

The board condemned the students’ actions as “extremely inappropriate and unacceptable” in a statement Sunday.

Board spokesperson Darren Becker said today the slur went unnoticed during the editing process before the books were printed and distributed, but people took note on social media at the end of last week.

He said the 2021-22 yearbooks will be edited to remove the offending passage and returned to students.

The students involved will face disciplinary action, although Becker declined to comment on what measures could be taken.

 This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 13, 2022. 

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press